Projection: The attribution of one's own attitudes, feelings, or suppositions to others.
Could Maureen Dowd's idée fixe -- that Republicans seek father figures -- be the projection of the columnist's deep-seated desire for a strong man of her own? Dowd's columns are as much pop psychology as political commentary. The NY Times columnist understands virtually everything in terms of the underlying impulses of the id, ego and super-ego.
When it comes to presidential preferences, Dowd's theory is that Republicans seek strong men who will dole out discipline and authority. Take today's [p.p.v.] opus, Old School Inanity, in which Dowd twice trots out her father-figure formula [emphasis added]:
Dying for a daddy, the Republicans turn their hungry eyes to Fred.
And later:
Republicans are especially eager for a papa after their disappointing experiences with Junior [Bush, not Earnhardt, although many are indeed dismayed he's missed the Chase].
Dowd's notion is that, whereas Republicans are hopeful that Fred Thompson might fill the fatherly role, he might not be the real daddy deal. She bases this largely on the thin reed that Thompson, responding to a CNN question, suggested that the failure to capture Osama is not as important as the likely presence of al-Qaeda operatives in the U.S.
Writing off Thompson, Dowd then demands:
Can we please get someone in charge who will stop whining that Osama is hiding in “harsh terrain,” hunt him down and blast him forward to the Stone Age?
Say what, Maureen? You're dreaming of having someone "in charge"? A guy who doesn't whine? A hunter who will "blast" Osama?
Who wants a daddy, now?
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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Good Call Mark
September 9, 2007 - 08:42 ET by allanfWhile I don't have the exact reference, a Weekly Standard piece in 2002 explored Dowd's narcissism. The point was that she interpreted political phenomena in terms of personalities. Perhaps someone with subscriber access to their website can find a link to that article. These observations do seem similar to Mark's.
Dowd has had an unusual life. She is a Roman Catholic woman of 55 who never married. She wrote a book called "Are Men Necessary", but yet rose to prominence at the Times after an affair with a senior manager.
No doubt she could single handedly put a therapist’s daughter through college.
.
I can't get a "Dick Cheney"
September 9, 2007 - 10:01 ET by Guy Arthur ThomasI can't get a "Dick Cheney" Dowd would indeed put at least one lucky therapist's child through college and grad school. The sad thing of course is that she is presented as a reasonable, rational and respectable commentator on all thing social, political and religious when in reality her malignant neurosis disqualifies her for something as simple as a being a Meter Maid. But alas, the "Bloody Mary's" of the "Lifetime Channel Society" have to have someone to represent their morbid and profoundly ignorant demographic.
I do find it interesting how the NYT ended its pay policy to read "Rag Hags" like Dowd. No one out side the New York Liberal sycophant circle was interested. Go POST!
Shut up and blog! If you claim to be a conservative, please don't disgrace yourself and conservatism by thinking and arguing like a liberal. Go Rudy!
And we continue to indulge
September 9, 2007 - 08:22 ET by PeskyDaneAnd we continue to indulge this woman regardless of her mental disorders...
Dowd
September 9, 2007 - 09:28 ET by BlondeSeeking a father figure?
Dowd's a fine one to talk. Sheesh!
Sometimes liberals are so unintentionally funny.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
Can we please get someone in
September 9, 2007 - 09:45 ET by rimsky"Can we please get someone in charge who will stop whining that Osama is hiding in “harsh terrain,” hunt him down and blast him forward to the Stone Age?"
Maureen.. kiddo! YOU'RE the one whining.
Send Dowd to get Osama
September 9, 2007 - 10:21 ET by nkviking75If it's that easy to get bin Ladin, give MoDo a gun, a pair of hiking boots, and a plane ticket and tell her to get it over with.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
Good one Mark, projection
September 9, 2007 - 09:47 ET by botgGood one Mark, projection oftens goes along with 'reaction formation' You may add to examples: Writer who wants daddy attributes the desire to rivals and chastises them for it.
Support our Troops
Fascinating concept, this
September 9, 2007 - 10:37 ET by dscottFascinating concept, this reaction formation. So let's see if I got this right. Dowd typically reviles men and Repubs, extols women and Dems. Deep down Dowd wants to be in love with a man and live the virtues advocated by Repubs.
dscott's postulate: The degree to which someone exaggerates or deceives is inversely proportional to the merit of the advocated position.
Please . . ..
September 9, 2007 - 09:57 ET by Mica the MagnificentSounds like someone is asking for a good spanking.
mica
September 9, 2007 - 10:46 ET by botgpaging Galahad?
Support our Troops
That notion...
September 9, 2007 - 14:34 ET by heldmyw...is aggresive, visceral, sexist, and has the unalloyed virtue of being probably the best thing that could happen to this sad, unlovable shrew.
With a stick.
Can we please get someone
September 9, 2007 - 10:08 ET by motherbeltCan we please get someone in charge who will stop whining that Osama
is hiding in “harsh terrain,” hunt him down and blast him forward to
the Stone Age? Maureen Dowd
And who woule that be, Ms. Dowd: The Breck Girl? "Start a conversation" Obama? "Give peace a chance" Kucinich? Let's face it, Mrs. Clinton is the closest thing the Democrats have to a father figure.
And you know, someone could take Ms. Dowd's desire for a take-charge kind of guy as other than a father figure, and speculate about what that says about her...
But that would be tacky.
moms
September 9, 2007 - 10:24 ET by botgwhen you begin in the topic of Freudian defense mechanisms the repression of sexual impulse is assumed in the desire for a father figure
Support our Troops
We are talking about a
September 9, 2007 - 10:50 ET by dscottWe are talking about a damaged person who is trying to bring a sense of normalcy without actually dealing with the issue that made her dysfunctional. Sweeping things under the rug is denial, a defense mechanism for someone who can not without help deal with the underlying issue. Dowd needs help, but until she finds someone who will actually support her to confront her past instead of enabling by transference she is trapped. Transference never deals with the issue, it's just escapism. The bigotry of Feminism was a convenient means of transference, but at a cost of remaining dysfunctional.
dscott's postulate: The degree to which someone exaggerates or deceives is inversely proportional to the merit of the advocated position.
Poor mssssss dowd.....shes
September 9, 2007 - 10:20 ET by charlietexasPoor mssssss dowd.....shes just a typical liberal woman. she grew up
an ugly fat person. I'm sure she didnt date much and was teased alot in
school. she hates strong men, she wants to be the strong one in
the relationship. Since she lost all her weight, she has been bed
hopping and treating men the way she was treated. she likes
liberal men because they are pu**y whipped, like bill clinton.
I'm sure a man like John Edwards or Obama would please her. Their
wives have taken over their campaign. But.......the man she will
vote for is Hillary.
charlies wife
Who Cares?
September 9, 2007 - 10:50 ET by BourbeauMaureen Dowd is harldy anyone you need to read to keep abreast of the world. She's a one note lefty loonie and has long ago had her fifteen minutes of fame. Oh yeah, she'll pop up every now and then with some irksome observation, but she's harmless. Her and the lefts fascination with Osama is mind boggling. The guy lives in a hole in the mountains of Afghanistan or Pakistan; he's barely seen or heard from; aside from 9/11, no one is likely to recall a damn thing he's done, yet the left is obsessed with his every utterance. What the left should be concerned about is the army of little Osamas he's distributed thruout the world. It is this group of mindless killers that will continue to cause havoc across the globe. For anyone to think we would be any better off today, minus Iraq, minus Osama, minus George Bush, minus 9/11, is nothing short of ludicrous. It's time for the Dowds, Richs, and Friedmans of the world to get real. Bush took this fight on thinking he had his back covered, and he was left to fight it on his own. This despite years of Sadaam bashing prior to his presidency. But lets not ask Dowd to remember that period; she might have an attack of guilt.
The TimesSelect Veil of Secrecy
September 9, 2007 - 10:52 ET by BacchusForegive this sidetrack but didn't Dowd disappear from the MSM years ago having been put under the TimesSelect burqua? How is she still relevant to the world at large? Sadly, I think burquas do that to people. (It's nice to see her face again, btw.)
Dowd
September 9, 2007 - 11:03 ET by Emma GrumpSadly, she re-emerges from time to time, not unlike a canker sore .
MoDo
September 9, 2007 - 11:37 ET by Gordon SchumwayMoDo could use a good stiff one. How about Peter North, for example? Hoosier Daddy now?
Gordo
Indianapolis
To think that Times web
September 9, 2007 - 14:18 ET by fitzfongTo think that Times web subscribers used to have to pay extra to get access to Dowd's bitter, naive symbolic crap.
Catherine Zita-Jones!
September 9, 2007 - 14:23 ET by Del DolemonteThat's all you need to know about MoDo's problems. Dowdy was once dating Michael Douglas, and he dumped her for you-know who.
Over at the Free Republic website, whenever there is a MoDo thread, it is required procedure to fill the thread with pictures of Ms. Jones (or should I call her "Mrs. Douglas"?)
For those who haven't read it, here's one of Mo's columns that won her a Pulitzer Prize
http://www.pulitzer....
Thank you ever so much, Del
September 9, 2007 - 14:30 ET by BlondeFirst thing I saw upon popping your link....
by Maureen Dowd
WASHINGTON -- He couldn't stop thinking about the thong underwear. He couldn't believe Monica had pulled up her jacket to show it off. It so inflamed his imagination. At meetings, at briefings, at the most unlikely times, his mind suddenly reverted to the image of those straps, quickening his pulse, making him catch his breath.
I was eating lunch. That link deserves a warning.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
My Bad!
September 9, 2007 - 18:52 ET by Del DolemonteSorry about that, Blonde. I just wanted to provide an example of what passes for "award winning journalism" on the Left.
That this woman won a
September 9, 2007 - 14:32 ET by zhombreThat this woman won a Pulitzer Prize is one of the chief reasons to denigrate and ignore Pulitzer Prizes and Pulitzer Prize winners. It is possible to cheapen prestigious awards to the point that the award is meaningless, a farce. Like touting Gwyneth Paltrow and Hallie Berry as great actresses.
...and Julia Roberts.
September 9, 2007 - 15:13 ET by fitzfong...and Julia Roberts.
Dowd
September 9, 2007 - 15:05 ET by pocomocoDowd, The Wicked Witch Of The East, I’m sure, would prefer to have a strong mommy-figure in the White House like say – Bill Clinton.
Mark: I find your analysis
September 9, 2007 - 15:24 ET by Conservative_in_mass.Mark: I find your analysis of Ms. Dowd's Freudian desire for a daddy figure interesting...and on target. Maybe a Bill Clinton type would work for her.
Still IMO, Dowd has no business commenting on the "needs" of Republican voters. She has no clue as to what qualifies a candidate worthy of a conservative vote. You madam, cannot even begin to understand what makes me tick.
It would be the same as my attending a lecture on the benefits of free market capitalism by Fidel Castro and thinking I would "learn" something.
Buzz off Mo.
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. ~ Unknown
MoDo might desire a daddy
September 9, 2007 - 15:59 ET by zhombreMoDo might desire a daddy but I bet she'd settle for gin and valium.
Dowd-gin and valium
September 9, 2007 - 17:40 ET by shades2I'm afraid gin and valium may be too common for the elite Ms. Dowd, I'm more apt to believe she is into something more fashionable.........shall we say........prescription drugs. Just acts too spacey.
Gin and Raisins Maybe?
September 9, 2007 - 19:40 ET by Del DolemonteMama T has the cure!
Another MoDo Blast From the Past
September 9, 2007 - 19:43 ET by Del Dolemontefrom an article about how the media "went after" Al Gore in 2000, I found this passage:
http://www.vanityfai...
"Maureen Dowd boiled the choice between Gore and Bush down to that between the "pious smarty-pants" and the "amiable idler," and made it perfectly clear which of the presidential candidates had a better chance of getting a date. "Al Gore is desperate to get chicks," she said in her column. "Married chicks. Single chicks. Old chicks. Young chicks. If he doesn't stop turning off women, he'll never be president."
"I bet he is in a room somewhere right now playing Barry White CDs and struggling to get mellow," she wrote in another.
Meanwhile, though Dowd certainly questioned Bush's intellect in some columns, she seemed to be charmed by him—one of the "bad boys," "rascals," and a "rapscallion." She shared with the world a charged moment between them. "'You're so much more mature now,' I remarked to the Texas Governor. 'So are you,' he replied saucily." And in another column: "You don't often get to see a Presidential candidate bloom right before your eyes."